Outdoor
Education
Outdoor adventure education could be said to go as far back as Ancient Greece when the great philosophers of the time debated over the dominance of the body and mind in controlling the actions of the individual.
Outdoor education has developed throughout the centuries and through different cultures with it receiving different levels of merit from the different communities.
Modern outdoor education within Britain could probably be mostly found at the same time as modern sport was born during the industrial revolution in the late 1800’s during the rational recreation period. The best starting point would probably be the 1870 Elementary Education Act. This act was the initial introduction to education for all and physical drill was part of this education for young males only. The drill was very militarised and seen probably as preparing them for war.
Most of the expansion in the outdoor adventure education field has mainly taken place over the last 40 years since the 1950’s. Although a small but steady growth had occurred during the years leading up to this with the introduction of things like the 1872 Education Act, the establishment of organised sport, the 1930’s was when the nation became preoccupied in fresh air, 1935 the Central Council for Physical recreation was established, 1937 physical Education Act, and so on. Other influences were the expansion of the transport network; motor cars were readily afforded. Sir Baden Powell founded the scouting movement in 1908; The Duke of York’s camps brought together young males from public schools and industry for a programme of social and practical activities. In 1930 the Youth Hostel Association was founded offering people cheap accommodation. Also around this time the Local education authorities set up a few camps and offered outdoor training facilities, which were grant funded by the Ministry of Education.
Some great changes took place during the Second World War. During this war, new frontiers of battle were established. For the first time service men were being trained in desert, jungle, mountain and arctic warfare. Equipment for sports like parachuting, scuba, climbing, canoeing was being developed at a greater rate, and not for recreation but as a means of warfare. After the war this lead to the availability of cheaper equipment, training methods were recorded into training manuals and the heroic epics of the commands in Europe and the Long Range Desert Group in the desserts of North Africa to mention only a few gave outdoor adventure a new romantic calling.
An influential character on outdoor education of this period was Kurt Hahn, a German who opposed the Nazi regime and found exile in Britain. During his work at Gordonston School Hahn became concerned with the sheltered environment, which many of the young people found themselves in. To try and aid this he set up a three-fold award were participants would have to complete a service, athletic and expedition section to gain an award. Although participation in those later days was limited it did however format the foundations for the Duke of Edinburgh’s award that was introduced 20 years later.
Between the years of 1950 and 1980 saw the greatest expansion in outdoor adventure education. Over these years was a steady increase in the opportunities open to young people. There was also a more systematic approach to how outdoor and adventurous experiences could help in the development of young people.
Some of the key events were:
The first full time Local Authority centre was opened in Derbyshire in 1950 called White Hall for open country pursuits. 1953 saw the first successful ascent of Mount Everest and upon returning from Everest John Hunt 1953 wrote “Now that the summit has been reached, it should be possible to give particle encouragement to large numbers of enterprising explorers and mountaineers to go far and wide, in the Himalayas and elsewhere, in search of climbing and in the pursuit of other interests.”
John Hunt himself became actively involved in enabling young people in the pursuits of “other interests”, and in 1956 became the first director of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
In 1956 the CCPR converted the Royal Hotel at Capel Curig, into Snowdonia National Recreation Centre. Now known as Plas y Brenin. One of the first national centres for outdoor pursuits.
In post war years National service introduced many young men to new pursuits as they found themselves involved in active service in deserts, jungles, up mountains and in arctic environments. The Ocean Youth Club was founded in 1960 offering young people between 12 and 24 the opportunity to go to sea under sail.
The 1944 Education act replaced or radically reformed nearly all other law relating to education. It stated that all Local Authority’s had a duty to provide provision of facilities for leisure time. It also suggested that:
“a period of residence in a school camp or other boarding school in the country would contribute substantially to the health and width of outlook of any child from a town school, especially if the care of livestock, the growing of crops, the study of the countryside and the pursuit of other outdoor activities formed the bulk of the educational provision and were handled by specially qualified staff”
The department of Education was directed by such reports as the Newson Report 1976 (this report lead to the increase of the school leaving age) and the Dartington conference to carry out a survey into the increase of outdoor adventure education. The subsequent report that was published in 1983 looked at what had taken place from the CCPR conference in 1962 at Plas y Brenin up until 1981. It discovered that in 1962 there was 10 LEA centres and 14 others in England and Wales, but by 1981 this had risen to 400 day and residential centres in England and Wales with an additional 300 field centres and 500 other outdoor centres run by voluntary, charity and commercial groups. This did not take into account the number of groups and teachers who were independently running activities.
In Scotland the growth of OE was also taking place but one of the key areas was when the Scottish Council for Physical Recreation obtained Glenmore lodge in 1948. This centre ran outdoor courses for youth, school and college groups for 11 years before moving to a purpose built centre in 1959.
The Burton Report 1963 argued for more diversity within physical education and it stated that outdoor pursuits could offer a better understanding of the environment and ones self. Many people about this time felt the same and this could be seen through the mass expansion within Scotland, an example of this could be the extensive network of residential and field centres established within Strathclyde.
Extract from 1944 Act from Nopkins, D. & Putnam, R. 1993 Personal Growth through Adventure. Southport Witwell.
Unfortunately not all people help the same perspective of outdoor education and many people were against it. The direct impact on the countryside was the concern that the National Parks Policies Review committee. The British Mountaineering Committee also showed concern with the expansion of outdoor education and stated that people should only be on the hill trough personal choice and that there was need to monitor the volume and nature of organised training and that some mountain areas could be affected by overcrowding. These concerns were published in their 1975 report on Mountain Training.
In 1938 during the development of outdoor education as a learning tool John Dewey stated
“The belief that all genuine education comes through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely educative.”At this time John Dewey was considered as “The high priest of experiential learning”
Extract from Nopkins, D. & Putnam, R. 1993 Personal Growth through Adventure. Southport Witwell.
